The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.
Moses is listing what follows if Israel refuses to listen to God. Here the social order flips: the sojourner, a foreigner living in Israel, rises while the nation sinks.
A Promise Turned Upside Down
This verse is not random misfortune. It reverses what Moses promised earlier in the same chapter:
Leslie M. GrantForeigners would gain the upper hand over Israel. Israel would have to borrow from foreigners instead of the other way around (v.44). So the foreigner would be the head and Israel the tail. This reverses what would be true if Israel were obedient (vs.12-13).
The Place Israel Was Meant to Hold
"Head" and "tail" are not just pictures. They describe a settled place God marked out for the nation. Israel's present state does not cancel it:
C. H. MackintoshThis, no doubt, refers to Israel as a nation. They are destined to be the head of all the nations of the earth. Such is the sure and settled purpose and counsel of God concerning them. They are sunk very low now. They are scattered and lost among the nations, suffering the terrible consequences of their persistent disobedience. They are sleeping in the dust of the earth, as we read in Daniel 12. Yet as a nation they will rise and shine in far brighter glory than Solomon's.
Earthly Standing, Not Standing Before God
Sinking "lower and lower" is about a nation's place in the world. It is not about a soul's acceptance with God:
William KellyIn Deuteronomy 28 we have law. It is not viewed in its own nature, as a question between God and man. It is viewed as the rule of government on earth, dealing with man's circumstances. And so here we have the blessing on one hand and the curse on the other.
The two halves of the chapter are not even in length:
C. H. MackintoshIn the first, we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience. In the second, we have a deeply solemn and moving statement of the terrible consequences of disobedience. One thing must strike us: the section of curses is more than three times as long as the section of blessings. That consists of fifteen verses; this of fifty-three. The whole chapter furnishes an impressive commentary on the government of God.
Written Long Before It Happened
The nation's later history matches these words. One writer describes how a synagogue reads this chapter aloud:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinOrthodox Jews read through all five books of Moses in their synagogues each year. When they reach this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a hushed voice. They do well to read it quietly and think it over. The sad and sorrowful history of that wonderful nation is written here in advance. Thousands of years ago the Spirit of God, through Moses, outlined the history of the scattered nation and all their suffering and trouble, as it has been for nearly two thousand years and as it is still.
A Warning That Reaches Further
The lesson is not limited to Israel. God did not spare His own people, so no one else can feel safe:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWhat a warning this chapter is to Gentile Christendom! "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" (Rom. 11:21).
Low Is Not the Same as Finished
The curses run on to a word as severe as "destroyed" (v. 45). But what does that word mean? The answer leaves room for recovery:
Leslie M. GrantDestruction does not mean annihilation. To destroy is to make something unfit for the purpose it was first made for. A dish smashed to pieces is destroyed, though it is not annihilated. So Israel's destruction is not permanent. Romans 9, 10, and 11 assure us of this, for God knows how to restore in His matchless grace.
Summary
- Reversal. Verse 43 turns verses 12–13 backwards. The foreigner becomes the lender and the head; Israel becomes the borrower and the tail.
- Government. This chapter's blessing and curse deal with God's rule over a nation's life on earth. They do not settle a soul's standing before Him.
- Weight. Fifty-three verses of curse against fifteen of blessing. The gap itself shows how seriously God treats disobedience in His own people.
- Evidence. The nation's later history reads like this chapter written in advance. That is why the Rabbi lowers his voice over it.
- Reach. God did not spare the natural branches, so the warning reaches past Israel to anyone who feels secure. Yet "destroyed" is not "annihilated," and grace knows how to restore.